Bengaluru: For a few minutes, the ground staff lifted the polyethylene covers over the pitch to change the hessian cloth underneath. The curator was by their side to check if water had seeped inside. Theirs was the busiest cluster of men on a gloomy Bengaluru pre-match day when it drizzled before it poured.
The Indian team spent their day indoors, Shubman Gill spent his on the physio’s table getting treatment for his strained neck; while New Zealand made the effort to come to the Chinnaswamy stadium and have a net on the indoor pitches. Their batters would want to fine tune their techniques before facing India’s spin twins. The hosts haven’t lost a series at home for twelve years.
It’s a peculiar rivalry – India vs New Zealand – with no edginess and little hangover of one-on-one verbals. Despite their punching-above-theie-weight label, New Zealand don’t win much in India – just 2 wins in 36 Tests. India do marginally better in New Zealand – 5 wins in 25 matches – but the sharp short series played between the two nations haven’t allowed the rivalry to blossom either.
Cricket fans in the city wouldn’t want to miss a date to watch Virat Kohli play. But would they queue up for match tickets when the forecasters are predicting a week full of thunderstorms, particularly adverse weather on the first two days?
There’s hope though because the stadium has one of the best drainage facilities in the country. This won’t be a repeat of Kanpur. Once it stops raining, it doesn’t take long for the water to be sucked in by the sub-air drainage system.
Both teams will be keeping their fingers crossed. India wants to rake in wins at home so that they can go to play the Border-Gavaskar trophy without the pressure of booking the World Test Championship final berth. Tom Latham would want to hit the right note as he begins his captainship stint, prove it by delivering more impact performances than the Kiwis managed in Sri Lanka.
If Gill doesn’t recover, Sarfaraz Khan will come into the playing XI. He started with three fifties in three outings against England, last year at home. The Mumbai batter has got a voracious appetite for runs. After being released from the Bangladesh series to play the Irani Cup, he amassed another double ton.
Gill has been relishing his preferred No 3 position. KL Rahul may get a stop-gap promotion. India would not want to tinker with the opening combination now that Yashasvi Jaiswal has learnt to settle in for bed and breakfast once in, as high-quality opening batters should.
Rohit Sharma had high praise for his opening partner. “He’s a real talent and has got the game to play in all sorts of conditions. Just important how he manages himself in the next few years,” he said. “It works well for the team, him being a left-hander and aggressive. We have found a great player.”
The other decision India has to explore is whether they can find a way to give Kuldeep Yadav another match. But the weather conditions may force their hand to pick three seamers. Besides, Akash Deep has grown with each of the three Tests he has featured in.
The pitch has a dry look to it but the relentless rain over the past few days would mean early morning moisture that could be exploited with the new ball.
“There’s been a lot of rain. The pitch is under covers. We keep our options open on playing three seamers or three spinners, but we will come in the morning and look at the pitch to decide,” the Indian captain told reporters on Tuesday.
New Zealand too may be tempted to play the experienced Tim Southee as the third seamer behind Matt Henry and young pacer Will O’Rourke who had a good series in Sri Lanka. The last time Southee played here; he had picked up a career best 7-64. But that was 12 years ago. The 102-Test veteran is looking to rediscover his wicket-taking form.
Bossing at home
One reason, it would be wrong to rule out a result despite the rain is India’s ruthless attitude to win. Despite the rain, they found a way to steamroll Bangladesh in Kanpur, in two days. “Ultimately, our attitude doesn’t need to change. We have to still try and win games. We will look at the match situation here and accordingly press the paddle to take the game forward,” said Sharma.
What makes India so good at home? “Their hunger and desire to want to win. Their attitude that they never take for granted,” Eoin Morgan, former England player and pundit said last week. “They have to be considered one of the greatest in their own conditions. We come from countries that have huge advantages for the home side. But, our records over the course of generations are nowhere near as good as the Indians.”
“It’s hard to win away from home anywhere. But when you look at India, they have got spinners as well an equally good seam attack and match winners in batting. We will have to play well,” said Tom Latham, New Zealand skipper.
New Zealand batters intend to stay true to each of their methods and find ways to score. The question is whether that will be enough against Jasprit Bumrah-led pace attack, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja?
